Children of fire

Children of Fire was founded to help the young survivors of burn injuries in Africa. It also aims to help the communities in which the children live and educate them in the prevention of fires and burn injuries. Sadly more than 15 000 children are badly burned each year in South Africa alone. The charity was originally founded when director Bronwen Jones took on the challenge of helping burns survivor Dorah Mokoena. Dorah was burned in a shack fire at the age of seven months. She lost her eyelids, nose, lips, fingers and the heat of the fire was so intense that part of her forehead bone was reabsorbed. She is believed to be the most badly burned child in the world to survive. Bronwen took on the challenge of saving Dorah's eyes and rebuilding her face because no one else was prepared to do so. After being abandoned by her biological mother Dorah now lives as a member of Bronwen's own family. But the battle is far from won, because of the severity of Dorah's injuries and the extent of society's prejudice. Some 200 children have been seen through complicated surgery since Children of Fire began.

Skin & Body Renewal have assisted the Children by performing non-invasive laser treatments to the affected areas to help reduce the scarring and skin resurfacing. The Children have been going to the Skin & Body Renewal Parkhurst branch since 2008.

The Future of Children of Fire

Children of Fire hope to use its unique knowledge of burns treatment, psychological care and fire prevention to help make Africa a safer continent. The charity is widening the geographic area and the diversity of projects to enable more individuals and more communities to benefit from our work. The charity is taking a wide approach to community safety, from contributions towards national and international legislation, to projects to empower squatter camp communities to enable them to work themselves into a better future.